The unforgettable story of a family swept into history by the Cuban Revolution

In The House on G Street, award-winning author Lisandro Perez tells Cuba's story through the lens of a single family: his own. His book relays the tales of two officers who fought against the Spanish for Cuban independence; a plantation owner who smuggles himself onto a ship; families divided by political loyalties; an orphaned boy from central Cuba who would go on to amass a fortune; a fatal love triangle; violence; and the ever-growing presence of the United States. It all culminates with an unforgettable portrait of a childhood spent in a world that was giving way to another one. The House on G Street is a unique depiction of one of the most consequential events of the twentieth century, told through generations of ancestors whose lives were shaped by dramatic historical forces.
Perez disentangles the complex history by following his family's thread, imbuing political events with personal meaning. Their story begins with emigration to Cuba and follows the waning years of the colony. The end of Spanish rule gives way to pervasive American influence, and Perez's family turned to New York as they adapted to the realities of a new republic with compromised sovereignty: privileged educations in boarding schools in Long Island and the Hudson Valley; a family business that took tobacco leaves from the soil of central Cuba to the docks of the East River; and grandparents who met and fell in love one night in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His family learned to navigate the uneasy relationship between the United States and Cuba, a relationship that was destined to end in dramatic fashion.
More than sixty years later, the Cuban Revolution resists receding into the past, sparking continued discussion, debate, and reinterpretation. There is a great deal that is known about the broad historical conditions that inexorably pushed Cuba towards revolution, but much less is known about the people who lived that dramatic history. It is a story that, if not recovered and told, will be lost, for Perez's ancestors lived in a world that no longer exists, swept away by a tide of revolutionary change.
The House on G Street follows a family whose lives mirror the history of a nation. The result is a compelling blend of memoir and in-depth historical research, a remarkable new view of the path to revolution as seen from the first person.

About the Author
Lisandro Perez is Professor in the Department of Latin American and Latinx Studies at John Jay College, City University of New York and author of Sugar, Cigars, and Revolution: The Making of Cuban New York.

Reviews
"In this nostalgic and reflective multigenerational story, Perez proudly recalls a joyful family life... Perez, an accomplished academic, recognizes the irrepressible contradiction between the promises of the Cuban independence hero Jose Marti-who demanded national sovereignty and social equality-and the rampant Americanization and corrupt politics that characterized mid-twentieth-century Cuba." * Foreign Affairs *
"Lisandro Perez has written an instant classic. At once a history of Cuba drawing on decades of his fine scholarship, an intimate and fascinating chronicle of two intertwined families living through that long history, and a moving coming-of-age memoir, this highly original and beautiful book is something to be treasured." -- Ada Ferrer, author of Pulitzer-Prize Winner Cuba: An American History
"A deeply personal, nostalgic, and beautifully narrated story of Cuba. It is a window into the lives of the upper classes, where Cadillacs and Hollywood mesh with Cuban patriots, sugar, and tobacco. The protagonists of this story may not be precisely heroes but lived full lives in the company of their loved ones, those who gathered every Sunday at the family home. It is time to recall the obvious: those living on G Street were Cubans too." -- Alejandro de la Fuente, author of A Nation for All: Race, Inequality, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Cuba
"A wonderful retrospective of a Cuban family as it moved and adapted to the drama of the country across centuries. A book written to be enjoyed and to be engaged with. A triumph." -- Alejandro Portes, University of Miami
"An evocative and intimate history of Cuba from its War of Independence from Spain, to the formation of the Republic, and to the 1959 revolution. His meticulous research of politics and the economy is beautifully interwoven with his personal history, reminding us that the past is a lived experience." -- Maria de los Angeles Torres, University of Illinois at Chicago
"Based on meticulous research and a treasure trove of family archives, the story told here with wit and humor is a thoroughly original page-turner, often astonishing, always engrossing, but above all eye-opening, illuminating the larger canvas of a tumultuous history in captivating detail." -- Ruben G. Rumbaut, coauthor of Immigrant America: A Portrait
"A founding figure in the field of Cuban Studies, Perez now turns his attention to the story of his own family. The saga of the Perez-Fonts clan reflects broader forces shaping Cuban history itself. Infused with nostalgia, yet never shy of confronting difficult truths, The House on G Street offers an uncommonly intimate, deeply researched, and moving look at a Cuban world long gone." -- Michael J. Bustamante, author of Cuban Memory Wars: Retrospective Politics in Revolution and Exile



Book Information
ISBN 9781479824625
Author Lisandro Perez
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint New York University Press
Publisher New York University Press
Weight(grams) 599g